If everything looks good after going through this tutorial, head to the View dropdown menu and select the Outline mode. This is particularly important if you drew shapes that overlapped with each other. Combine and Merge all ShapesĪll shapes will need to be united, combined, or merged, using the Pathfinder tools. You’ll also want to make sure all non-text holes and cutouts are at least 60% of the material thickness, which ensures they can be laser cut. In addition, cut-out text or “reversed text” has to have “bridges,” or in other words, the text needs to be “stencilized.” (Take a look at our tutorial for Preparing Text for Laser Cutting in Illustrator for more details.) When your designs include text, be sure that all text has been converted to outlines or paths. If it’s not, you can drag things to the same layer and then delete the remaining empty layers. Everything must be on a single layer, including any text and bend lines. Ensure everything fits into the Artboard now before moving on to the next step. If not, simply activate the Artboard tool from the Tool Panel and drag the corners to make it larger. Saving the design will include only geometry on the Artboard, so your Artboard must be large enough. We can also use “ select all” to check that everything fits on the Artboard. (Check out our tutorial on Finding and Fixing Open Contours in Illustrator for more info on how this works.) If you do have any, go ahead and hit the Delete key to remove them. This will select any stray points that may be floating around your design or out in space. Head to the Select dropdown menu > Object > and Stray Points. To ensure the success of your laser cut part, you’ll want to check your file for open contours and stray points. If not, fix the dimensions to what your final part should be before proceeding. Select the largest contour and double-check that the dimensions are correct for your project. You’ll then want to confirm that your part is in fact at a 1:1 scale. Units can be found in the Document section of the Properties pane. Confirm Units & Scaleįor starters, make sure your document units are set to inches, as that’s what we prefer to work with at SendCutSend. In this video, we’ll walk you through the process, including our checklist of items to achieve the best laser-cut results. Exporting your design in Adobe Illustrator for laser cutting is a simple process.
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